Arcades have been around as early as the 1930s and reached a golden age between the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.

The industry then declined in the west due to the rise of home video game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation. Today in the UK, arcades are in a niche market with only a select group of people going to them I met up with 20-year-old James Hayward who has been into the arcade world for five years now. He took me to some of London’s hidden arcades and explained to me what they have done for him.

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Words and Video: Ashleigh Swan